BuCor flagged by COA for medicines overstock

The Commission on Audit has flagged the Bureau of Correction for overstocking medicines worth P15.5 million and the poor catering services at the New Bilibid Prison in Muntinlupa City and Correctional Institution for Women in Mandaluyong City.

In a 2018 audit report, the commission blamed Bucor’s inadequate planning and poor prioritization to the procurement of drugs and medicines beyond the patients’ actual needs.

“Apparently, actual demand of patients were not considered in the procurement of drugs and medicines, resulting in excess procurement in the aggregate amount of P15,501,612.25. This is a manifestation of a clear disregard of the actual needs of patients or purchases of the same even without the need/basis to purchase,” the report read.

The procurement of drugs and medicines were classified as high-priority items or low-priority items based on BuCor’s current inventory and standard safety levels.

An example of the overstocked supply included 99,300 tablets of medicine Verapamil in 2018.

Only a total of 3,450 tablets were issued to inmate-patients for the entire year.

State auditors said the P55.860-million procurement of different drugs and medicines between 2017 and 2018 exceeded the three-month requirement of the NBP for the New Bilibid Prison Hospital and Correctional Institute for Women, and Reception and Diagnostic Center.

The agency called the attention in the delays in the public bidding and the process of awarding the contract to suppliers, asking BuCor to conduct a public bidding within a reasonable time and prevent overstocking to ensure its supply could only last for two months.

“We recommended that management undertake adequate planning and effective prioritization in its procurement and keep track of the movement of drugs and medicines to ensure safety stock levels and avoid excessive purchases,” it said.

Meanwhile, two of the three caterers of the BuCor central office—Aurora F. Sumulong Eatery and V&J Trading—were not able to comply with the requirements in its food subsistence agreement in 2018 for the inmates of both of the jail facilities.

According to COA, the two caterers lacked the food subsistence agreement requirements such as a sanitary permit, the employment of a food compliance officer, health certificate of food handlers and a pest treatment certification.

Some of the recommendations of COA were the evaluation of the performance of the two companies.

BuCor, for its part, said notices to terminate had been issued to the caterers, asking them to explain.